Josh Mandel asked Benjamin Suarez to raise campaign cash

Saturday

Sep 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2013 at 9:58 AM

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel asked North Canton businessman Benjamin Suarez to raise $100,000 for the Republican's U.S. Senate campaign, according to a federal indictment charging Suarez and an associate with illegally funneling about $200,000 to Mandel and a GOP congressman.

Joe Vardon, The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel asked North Canton businessman Benjamin Suarez to raise $100,000 for the Republican's U.S. Senate campaign, according to a federal indictment charging Suarez and an associate with illegally funneling about $200,000 to Mandel and a GOP congressman.

Suarez and Michael Giorgio, both of Suarez Corp., a direct-marketing company, were the only ones charged in a nine-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday. But a review of the 35-page indictment raises questions about how much Mandel knew about what the two men were doing.

Suarez and Giorgio raised money in 2011 for Mandel's failed 2012 U.S. Senate bid and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci's successful 2012 campaign. Suarez and Giorgio are accused of getting Suarez Corp. employees and associates to donate, then reimbursing them with company funds. Suarez and Giorgio pleaded not guilty in federal court this week. Mandel and Renacci both returned the Suarez contributions last year.

According to the indictment, a May 2011 memo to Suarez from Mandel's campaign that outlined the request for money included a handwritten note from Mandel and a form that stated that "corporate contributions are prohibited by law." Two months before that, in early March 2011, officials of the Suarez Corp. were emailing each other about a packet delivered to Mandel's campaign containing handwritten notes from Suarez associates.

A few weeks later, a Mandel campaign aide sent emails to a Suarez company official asking him to "give me a quick buzz" regarding a letter "I am working on today," and later to discuss the company's "business interests." And on April 8, 2011, that Mandel campaign aide sent two items directly to Suarez himself: a fax that included a handwritten note from Suarez that said "Mike Give $30M (thousand)" and a memo referencing the "Ohio Senate Fund, a joint fundraising committee."

All those documents indicating extensive communication between Mandel's campaign and the defendants were withheld from a grand jury by Suarez, Giorgio and the company, the indictment alleges.

The indictment also outlines correspondence between Suarez officials and Renacci's campaign, but not to the level of the interactions outlined with Mandel's campaign. The only document allegedly withheld from a grand jury that specifically mentioned Renacci was a fax to Suarez saying that the candidate "would appreciate a $5,000 (sic) from you and Nancy," who is Suarez's wife.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the investigation is continuing but would not comment further.

Spokespeople for both Mandel and Renacci insist that federal authorities have said the officeholders are not targets of the investigation. Rebecca Wasserstein, a Mandel spokeswoman, said yesterday that when the campaign attorney spoke with the Department of Justice this week, "There was no mention of Treasurer Mandel or the campaign being targets of the investigation."

James Slepian, a spokesman for Renacci, said there was no coordination between the candidates to seek Suarez's help in raising money. Suarez donated $4,800 to Renacci for his 2010 campaign, as did Mrs. Suarez.

Among the documents allegedly withheld from the grand jury were numerous items of correspondence between Suarez officials and a Mandel aide identified in the indictment as "S.G.," presumably Scott Guthrie, a longtime Mandel aide.

The correspondence between Suarez Corp. officials and Mandel's aides appears to have begun in March 2011, about a month before Mandel filed to create his U.S. Senate campaign committee. Guthrie, who was corresponding with Mr. Suarez and others, was Mandel's chief fundraiser for his 2010 campaign for treasurer, to which Suarez personally donated $13,800.

Mandel announced yesterday that he will donate his 2010 Suarez money to the Michael's House charity in Fairborn, Ohio, which cares for children who have been abused.

Secretary of State Jon Husted donated $5,000 he received from Suarez in 2010 to Dan's Fund for Brain Cancer Research at Ohio State University.

On Thursday, Gov. John Kasich and Auditor Dave Yost donated money they had received from Suarez in 2010 to charities.

Renacci will not make a donation; Slepian said the 2010 money has been spent.